Localities won't foot state's bill, Spitzer says

Colonie — The county officials in the packed ballroom had long bemoaned New York's costly habit of expanding state programs and passing the bill to localities.

Brendan Scott

Colonie — The county officials in the packed ballroom had long bemoaned New York's costly habit of expanding state programs and passing the bill to localities.

Yesterday, they heard a sitting governor finally fess up to the practice — and promise to stop it.

"The days when New York balanced its budget on the backs of its counties, cities, towns and villages are over," Eliot Spitzer said at the New York State Association of Counties' annual convention.

The speech — Spitzer's third big policy address in five days — was a rallying cry as much as a chance for the new governor to outline his plan to ease the burden on local governments and taxpayers.

He's looking for allies as he prepares to hand his first budget to the Legislature and start what's shaping up to be a dramatic reorganization of state government.

The 57 counties outside of New York City and the school districts within them have borne the brunt of New York's costly health and education systems.

Local property taxes across the state have jumped 42 percent in the past five years — 3½ times faster than earnings. Experts say that's a big reason why so many employers, young people and retirees can no longer afford to live here.

Spitzer's pushing a plan to expand the School Tax Relief (STAR) program by $6 billion over the next three years, including $1.5 billion this year. Unlike the current STAR program, that relief would mostly go to low- and middle-class homeowners.

The plan's county-by-county impact won't be known until today. But Spitzer offered Suffolk County as an example. The average homeowner there, who now gets a STAR benefit of $925, would get $1,717 under his plan.

Spitzer admitted quick fixes won't solve the problem. So, he threw out a few more promises: He'll keep the current cap on Medicaid costs in place and work toward taking over the counties' share of the massive health program.

He'll boost aid to depressed communities, such as Newburgh, by a half-billion dollars over the next five years. Most importantly, he won't hand down much-despised "unfunded mandates."

"We will draw the line on this practice once and for all," Spitzer said.

Republican or Democrat, local officials assembled in the room agreed the governor said all the right things. But all asked a similar question, a question that will be answered soon enough: Can he get it done?

"Who could argue that property taxes are killing us all?" said Orange County Legislator Michael Amo, R-Central Valley. "Let's wish him well and hope he accomplishes what he said he would."

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